Asking vs. Checking for yourself

Unfortunately, there are property specifics and attributes that are only known by the seller or listing agent. However, there are several property facts that are readily available. Here are just four:

1) CDD – You can ask your agent to ask the listing agent if there’s a CDD, or you can check for yourself. How so? By checking the county tax collector’s web site. The CDD will be listed under the Non-Ad Valorem section of the tax bill, if one exists.

2) Sewer vs. Septic – When it comes to waste management there are acronyms, terms and phrases such as public sewer, central sewer, city sewer, municipal sewer, private sewer, septic and even Aerobic Treatment Units (ATU’s). So how can you find out what waste management or system is applicable?

You can ask your agent to ask the listing agent if the property has public sewer or septic, or you can check for yourself. How so? By calling or emailing the local utility service entity for the property in question. If the property is within city limits, call or email that city’s utility service and inquire if there is a record of sewer service for the property? If there is no record of sewer service for the property’s address, the property likely has a septic system or tank. The city’s utility service representative can also verify and confirm whether that property’s address is within city limits.

If the property is located outside city limits, call or email the county’s utility service entity and inquire if there is a record of sewer service for the property? If there is no record of sewer service for the property’s address, the property likely has a septic system or tank. The county’s utility service representative can also confirm that a record of service would exist for the property if there was sewer service at that address.

Interestingly, some counties will list whether a property has a well and septic. In the following example, the Miscellaneous Improvement code of 256 is used to indicate WELL and code 190 is used to indicate SEPTIC.

True story: A husband and wife were interested in a home that had a couple of acres and thought it was unusual for a lot of that size to have public sewer. So they asked their real estate agent to ask the listing agent if the home had sewer or septic. The listing agent informed and later confirmed that the home, in fact, had public sewer.

Months later, other homes in the same relatively small community were also listed for sale. However, those other homes were listed as having septic systems. The listing agent for one of the homes for sale was quite familiar with the community and convincingly advised that all homes in that community were on septic and not public sewer.

So the husband called the local utility service company and asked if there was a record of sewer service for the property’s address, once he verified with the representative that the property’s address was within city limits. The representative confirmed that the property in question unfortunately did not have sewer service at that address location. Although the findings were a bit disappointing, it was a very educational and eye-opening experience.

Some counties, like Miami-Dade, Florida, offer an iWASD Connect GIS Viewer where individuals can enter an address in the search window to see if a residence is connected to the County’s water and sewer system. The web address is: “https://gisweb.miamidade.gov/iWASDConnect/”. The search results look like this:

Another helpful website for Miami-Dade searches is: “https://gisweb.miamidade.gov/communityservices/”. Enter a Miami-Dade property address in the search window and the results will inform you of the municipality, water service area and sewer service area, which look like this:

GIS or Geographic Information System is a computer system that analyzes and displays geographically referenced information. Several areas in the state of Florida offer public utility GIS maps. Examples include Lee County, Santa Rosa County, Broward County, and Brevard County. There are also interactive GIS city maps available via websites like: “https://gis.coconutcreek.net/”. Below is a sample results screenshot showing a “blue” public water line and “green” public sewer line.

3) Square Footage – Most listings (in MLS) will advertise a square footage. It is typically the heated and cooled space of a home. A lanai, porch, deck, car port or garage would normally be excluded. Building plans will often reflect an “under roof” square footage which would include all areas that are covered.

County tax appraisers use adjusted square footage to determine property taxes by incorporating the total exterior measurements of a property, including features like garages, covered entities, and patios, into the calculation of the property’s overall value, essentially giving more weight to a large overall footprint, which then influences the final assessed value and ultimately, the property tax amount owed.

The tax assessor will usually have sketches as well as tabulations for interior base square footage as well as the allowance or adjusted areas for taxation. What that means is for taxation purposes, the tax assessor will take, for example, 70% of the base square footage and use that for tax purposes. Here are two examples where this exercise of checking the tax assessor’s website proved helpful.

Example #1: A home that was advertised on MLS as having 6,299 square feet actually only had 4,275 square feet of base area living space. The home had a finished attached RV garaged of 1,984 square feet. The total being 6,259 square feet, not 6,299. But more importantly, if the RV garage was used to house an RV, there would only be 4,275 square feet to use as living space.

Here are the tax assessor’s area calculations summary and sketch:

Example #2: A home that was advertised on MLS as having 7,899 square feet actually only had 7,620 square feet of base area living space. The lot had two buildings, a main home of 7,050 square feet and a guest house of 570 square feet.

The following spreadsheet reflects the area calculations:

Details and accuracies should and do matter. For example, what if a consumer purchases 4 pounds of apples. The display sign indicates the brand of apple and advertises $3.99 per pound. However, at checkout the system incorrectly charges $8.99 per pound?

In both examples, the real estate agents were promptly informed of the discrepancies. Unfortunately, the result was that neither listing description changed. If anything, both agents were likely annoyed that they were bothered with such trivialities. However, isn’t square footage directly involved in determining price per sq. ft.?

4) Property Taxes – The property tax calculated for a home listed for sale in the state of Alabama was $3,512.34 and should have been $1,809.60 due to the incorrect classification and tax percentage. Class III was used instead of Class I. Even the Use Code was incorrect. Rather than 1110 – Residential or 7300 – Amusement (both of which are Class I), 9100 – Unused was used which is a Class III. The Insightful Buyer informed the listing agent of the $1,702.74 difference who in turn informed the seller.

The property tax calculated for a home listed for sale in the state of Mississippi was $17,021.64 and should have been $15,406.30 due to the incorrect classification and tax percentage. Class II was used instead of Class I for a portion of the property. Class II is used for rental property, agricultural land and commercial property. The property in question was located in an HOA community with documented covenants, conditions and restrictions. The property’s True Value total was $1,417,919, with $1,126,260 considered as Class I (10%) and $291,659 considered as Class II (15%). The tax assessment calculated for the portion incorrectly identified as Class II was $43,748.85 and should have been $29,165.90. After applying the various millage rates (i.e., for County, City and School) the net difference was $1,702.74. The Insightful Buyer informed the listing agent of the $1,702.74 difference who in turn informed the seller.

A listing agent drafted a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) sheet for a home listed for sale in the state of Louisiana. Next to Property Taxes (Annual) was the amount $26,821. The Insightful Buyer informed the listing agent that the correct property tax amount was actually $36,467.74, consisting of a $34,105.05 Parish tax plus a city tax of $2,362.69. There was no comment by the listing agent.